Showers of Blessings

Recently, I was thinking about how God has, in His grace, blessed me by giving me five Bibles of my own, which I have accumulated over the years. In many countries like China or Vietnam, our brothers and sisters in Christ rejoice if they have one Bible per community. Many of us have at least five Bibles per household and many of them study Bibles. We don't realize just how much the Lord has blessed us.

So many times we take for granted all the blessing God gives us. We don't stop and thank God for all the beautiful things He has given us ( James 1:17 ). We miss out on the joy of being thankful for His blessings. If we do practice being thankful, our perspective will begin to change and we will become less discouraged about things we may not have and more encouraged by the things we do have. Thankfulness is a command of God ( 1 Thess. 5:18 ). Let's stop grumbling about what we do not have and be thankful for what we do have.

Lessons from Shooting Hoops

Not too long ago, I was outside playing basketball. I was trying to work on a new form for shooting, and I was having a whole bunch of trouble. I knew what to do, but the more I thought about all the steps to shoot, the harder it became. Then it came to me. I had already learned all the steps for the new shooting form, and I had already memorized them. I needed to just do it and not think about it so much. When I did this, things went a whole lot better.
This same principle can apply to a Christians life. Many times, Christians who sincerely want to live a life that would please God try so hard to do all the right things. The problem with this mentality is that no one can please God by their own efforts. No one, when trying in their own strength, can live up to what God wants. So then how can we live lives pleasing to God. By the power of His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit empowers us with the Lord's strength to do what God wants ( Ezekiel 36: 27, Philippians 2:13, 2 Thessalonians 2: 16-17 ). Our job is to submit to His will and allow Him to work through us. We also need to draw close to God by reading His word and praying every day. Let's submit to God and allow His power to flow through us.

Getting to the Root of the Problem

Yesterday I was pulling up some weeds in my back yard that had gotten way out of control and had grown to a alarmingly large size. Almost everyday I would see them and I knew something had to be done. So yesterday I decided to go out and do something about those weeds. I knew that if I just cut them off at the base they would soon grow again and I would still have the problem on my hands. They would have to be pulled up by the root.
The same thing is true about sin in our lives. First, if we have sin in our lives, we need to acknowledge that we have a problem with that sin. Secondly, sin has to be dealt with. Sin keeps us from being in proper communion with God. If we hold sin back from God, the Bible says God won't hear our prayers( Psalm 66:18 ). However if we confess that sin (agree with God that it is sin and turn from it), God says that He will forgive us ( 1John 1:9 ) Thirdly, we have to get to the root of the problem. For instance, if someone struggles with pride they need to find the source of the pride and start the removal process there. We need to ask the Lord for His power and help and acknowledge that we can't do it ourselves ( 2 Cor. 3:5 ). When that sin tempts us, we need to first ask the Lord for help. While relying on the Lord's help, we need to quote Scripture and then turn that temptation into praise. Thank God for the victory He has given you in Christ. Thank God for His promises and for who He is. Then remove yourself from the opportunity to sin. If it's doing something sinful or going to a bad place, get yourself busy doing something something else or don't go where you will be tempted. Remember rely on the Lord's strength. During temptation, if you choose to follow what God wants and you trust Him, He will help you.